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Kemptville District Hospital (KDH) welcomed Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) of Canada, Dr. Leigh Chapman, on Tuesday, November 19. The visit included a tour of KDH, conversations with nurses and an open forum session with Dr. Chapman.
“KDH was honoured to host Dr. Leigh Chapman,” said the hospital’s CEO, Frank J. Vassallo. “Her visit was as productive as it was pleasant, providing an opportunity to showcase how our hospital continues to flourish by focusing on patient and family centered care. KDH is a wonderful example of a small hospital doing big things and Dr. Chapman saw that firsthand.”
Dr. Chapman – who’s nursing career has spanned over 20 years – was appointed Canada’s CNO in August of 2022. She provides strategic advice from a nursing perspective to Health Canada on priority policy and program areas, including health workforce planning and stability, long-term care, home care, palliative care, mental health, alcohol and drug use, models of care, scopes of practice and competencies.
Dr. Chapman is a registered nurse (RN) who received her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto’s Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing. She was selected as Canada’s CNO due to her breadth of leadership experience in varied nursing environments, such as practice, education, research, administration, policy and advocacy.
“It was a privilege to show Dr. Leigh Chapman what KDH has to offer and the progress that’s happening at our hospital,” said Katie Hogue, KDH’s Vice President of Nursing/Clinical Services and Chief Nursing Executive. “Dr. Chapman was impressed by our fantastic nurses, who go above and beyond for our patients on a daily basis.”
Dr. Chapman utilized the visit to talk to KDH nurses about the challenges and opportunities facing their profession. She highlighted the Nursing Retention Toolkit as a way to improve the working lives of nurses in Canada.
“I regularly prioritize meeting with nurses across Canada,” said Dr. Chapman, who added that through engagement efforts it has become clear that nurse retention is a key area of focus for the country. “We need to optimize the work environment of nurses by changing the way we are valuing the essential work that nurses do every single day.”
Dr. Chapman thanked KDH nurses for their candour and comments during her visit.
“It was wonderful to see how committed the nurses at KDH are to patient care,” noted Dr. Chapman. “They put patients first and we know we also have work to do on retention to ensure we are also optimizing the work environment for nurses.”
